Hollandia Opa Dutch Cruiser Bike, 28 inch Wheels, 18 inch Frame, Men's Bike, Black

Great bike if you replace the cheap parts. First off the dangerous bits. The front brakes are far too cheap. The brake adjustment on the brake lever is made of cheap plastic and will fail if you apply too much force on the front brake. The calipers themselves are prone to the spring falling off and should be replaced asap. Luckily this is a cheap replacement and should cost no more than $40 usd for both parts.The Chaincase and coat guards are a fabric style similar to Dutch Lakdoek ones. They are not the best quality, with poor stitching and a lot of extra fabric hanging off the back side, but they do the job and are better than thin plastic ones I have seen on other bikes. The space between the two is far too small, and the wheel can easily rub on them if the wheel is not perfectly centered. If you can get slightly wider fenders that would fix this issue.On my bike, the rear wheel makes a lot of noise. I at first thought the wheel was rubbing, but it turned out the noise was from the hub itself. If I moved the pedals with the wheel, the sound went away. Not an issue for me as I'll be replacing this with a 3 speed wheel in a few days.The front rack was quick to assemble and is very strong. I was able to sit on it without fear of it breaking. I'd much rather have a frame mounted front rack as those don't influence steering (like the azor front mounted front rack, which costs over half of what this bike costs), but this works good for lighter loads or if you are willing to go slow.As for instructions, there are none. The included book is a general book on assembling bicycles and mostly covers mountain style bikes, not dutch city bikes. Don't even bother looking at it. Download high res images of the bike assembled and use that as a reference. It should take no more than an hour to assemble.Overall the bike itself feels quite nice and is very close to a real dutch bike. Having owned a Workcycles bike (now stolen...) and still having a Gazelle, I like that dutch geometry. The price of this bike is worth it for the frame alone. Then just replace things as you can. Very happy and will likely purchase again to have another spare utility bike. Just don't buy this and expect a usable bike out of the box. the brake issues alone should be a major concern for anyone buying this bike. Going is important, but stopping is arguably more important.-----edit-----Just a small addition. After a few months there are two other problems that should be addressed. The first is the powder coat. It's very brittle. They also gave a black bike a white undercoat, making any scratch stand out. I'd recommend being either very careful or take it in and get it re powder coated properly. This will be expensive at around $200 USD.Another issue is this thing rusts like nothing I have ever seen. Every exposed bit of metal is now solid rust. All the screws, the bottom bracket, the pedals. It's only ever been stored indoors, but I ride it in all weather and just getting snow / salt on it has caused this. Can't imagine what it would be like if it was summer. My Gazelle has exposed metal and is from the mid 80's, no rust.Essentially my review is the same. Expect to replace EVERYTHING on the bike.

This is my first new bike since I was a lad so I was a bit rusty on bike maintenance 101, so I thought I share what I learned. You will need the appropriate 12 or 13 fitted wrench as an adjustable wrench wont do.1. What I like about the bike. a. The old fashion design and I am amused that like the Ford model T it comes in any color as long as it is black (The Model T is from 1908, a contemporary of our bike model). b. Large wheels, 28" which seems to be the largest wheel available though I have ridden old Dutch bicycles with bigger ones. c. Comfortable upright riding and no gears. I was worried about the strength and comfort of the seat and it is fine, my delicate behind is not complaining, even though I ride on gravel road for some of the journey. d. Coaster brakes! (back pedaling brakes the rear wheel) e. Customer service from Bike Aid. Bike Aid manages the customer service for Hollandia in the USA. It is a small operation, no phone tree from hell, the receptionists answers, you ask for Steve R. in parts and you have a very helpful New Yorker in Iowa. Steve sent me pictures of how the chainguard was assembled because there was something amiss with mine. Also when I bent my pedal by exerting too much force by starting uphill from a stand still (I am no shrinking violet) he sent a sprocket assembly, because he had no manual it took three tries before I received the right size sprocket, but now he knows, so if you need a sprocket for your Opa bike he'll know what size it is (you are welcome). All at no cost to me, they stand behind their product! f. Well designed and built (My issues arose from the final assembly, see below) g. Runs well and I get a little exercise in the bargain.2. What I did not like about the bike. a. Foremost the manual is a joke, it is a manual designed for all and fitting none, especially not our bike. I thought the one that came with it was for another bike, so I looked on the Hollandia website to download THE manual, finding nothing I called and I was told by Steve at Bike Aid that it is normal for bikes. I contend that with a manual related to the bike many of the issues with the bike would have been moot. b. The clown who did the final assembly in China was apparently not issued a manual either or he was drunk on shaojiu, probably both. I did not realize immediately that the bracket (sort of an inverted Y) holding the rear fender was mounted crooked AND in the wrong spot. For it to hold the fender away from the wheel it needs to be mounted on the front side of the rear fork. The rear fender bracket was also off and had to be unscrewed and rescrewed to get it centered, not a big deal, just annoying. c. The clown also fumbled the rear wheel assembly and the chainguard making the whole catawampus and rubbing. d. No info on assembling the front rack and headlight. e. A slight wobble at the rear wheel which I decided to ignore. f. I ended up spending about six hours on the initial assembly because I had to figure things out (no manual) and fix things that had been bungled at final assembly.3. History. What kind of bike is this?It is marketed as the "Opa Fiets," or Grandpa Bike, but technically this model of bicycle with the double bars is a "Transportfiets," a utility bike. Possibly the earliest occurrence of this design was produced by the Manufacturer Simplex in 1903. But just about all the bike manufacturers in the Netherlands seemed to have produced this model, and a few well into the late 1950s and the early 1960s. I had put a picture of the earliest design up for you all to see but it looks like Amazon did not like that, just plug in "Transportfiets" in your search engine and pictures should materialize (The sites will be in Dutch). There is an advertising from 1939 on the www that looks just like our bike.4. Is it a real Dutch bike?The "Hollandia Opa" looks like a classic Dutch Bike, and many Dutch companies have had the name Hollandia but I could not (as of yet) find a history of an old Hollandia bike manufacturer but there were many, many manufacturers of bicycles. Today, the Hollandia brand belongs to a Dutch multinational called TRADECARE INTERNATIONAL B.V. The bike itself is manufactured in China so it is of mixed nationality, :-). Previous reviewers mentioned that the "real" bikes made by Gazelle and Batavus (Two old Dutch manufacturers still in business today) are better, that may be but I did not see this classic model made by either company, Batavus does come close. But the price point is not the same, by a lot. And more to the point is that anyone that has ever seen a Dutch bike will recognize it as such!5. Tip for the Chainguard and coat protector.(I posted a photographic "how to" on the chainguard but Amazon seemed to have deleted it) a. As I mentioned this is my first bike in years and none ever had a chainguard. I dreaded taking it off to adjust things for fear of not being able to put it back. Be reassured, it is not a huge deal. b. Flip the bike on its handle bar and saddle to reveal the underside of the chainguard. You will see a stiff wire woven on small hooks. The tension is minimal and you can simply un-weave the wire by hand. With a pair of needlenose you can rebend the little hooks if necessary. You will also see a "pi" shaped piece of metal holding two sides of the guard at the rear wheel, slide it out. There are a few pressure buttons at the wheel and at the front sprocket, take pictures if you think you might forget how to put it back. you will need to remove the left pedal in order to remove fabric of the guard in its entirety. c. You can now adjust the rear wheel and the chainguard frame so that nothing rubs and bind and that it is centered over the chain. The frame is of light metal which can be shaped with bare hands. Be sure that the front and back portions of the chainguard frame fit snugly together. Mine were not which caused the vinyl cover not to fit and rub against the spokes. d. To re-install the guard, begin at the rear. e. The coat guard has three mounting clamps, a rubber one on the rear fork which can easily have slipped down or away in transport and two metal clips at the fender which might need adjustments so as not to rub against the wheel. The big holes are there to accommodate the dutch bike lock (not standard on this bike). f. One reviewer thought it unforgivable that it was not all metal. Sail cloth (now substituted by vinyl) is historically accurate, you can even change the color of your chain and coat guard if you want, see the Hollandia website and call Steve at Bike Aid for the part.5. Tip for mounting the Front rack and headlight. a. the headlight mounts to the front rack, so if you solve the first, the second will almost take care of itself. b. The rack comes in 6 pieces, plus a number of screws. I was worried about the height adjustment but I think there is a lot of leeway in how it holds together. First the front rack is also part of the front wheel assembly. A diagram on the proper order of the washers and hardware would have been nice. Well make sure the special washers with the little hook find their matching holes. Mount the verticals of the rack (long bars), you'll note that one of them has a bracket, that is where you mount the headlight, I put mine on the left side. Tighten enough so that they stay upright. c.Now you have just four pieces to contend with. You probably figured out that the flat metal Ls go on the steering wheel, so attach the Ls to the matching rack. There appear to be several options I centered them and it worked out fine. Secure the vertical part of the rack to the steering wheel by hooking the L shaped hooks over the steering wheel and securing them with the two long bolts. d. Connect horizontal rack to the vertical rack. e. Connect the vertical bars to the rack. Tighten the wheel nuts! c. My headlight did not come with a nut and bolt but I was able to scrounge that. The light coming off the headlight is minimal, probably sufficient to be seen in the city with street lights but not impressive in true darkness. I supplemented it with a more powerful headlight, and got a rear light for good measure.ConclusionThe bike is solid, good clean welds, (much nicer than on the mountain bikes I saw at Costco). I commute to and from work without having to wear bike gear, it is uphill both ways but only a couple of miles. It would have been nice to purchase this bike fully assembled from a local bike shop but this model is not available where I live, fenders appear to be an after market nicety. So considering the price, overall quality, customer service and the Amazon free delivery I am very pleased with my purchase.

I bought this bike expecting it would not be that great, was kinda right.prosThe frame is strong, and has good weldsits large simple design makes it easy to use and rideit can hold a lot of weight, had about 350 on the bike and went 15 miles with no problemsthe consReplace the breaks ASP those front breaks are not safe at all, going to swap them out for front diskthe box was really damage, and there was damage to some of the partsover all for under 200, its a good frame to work off, and if your 6,7'' like me you will like that it dose not hurt your back to ride

I read some reviews that nearly talked me out of making this purchase. I am glad that I read all of the reviews. This is a great $200.00 bike. Assembly was easy. Took me about 2 hours to unpack and assemble. The bicycle was packed very nice andturned out very nice no scratches or wear from packaging.I mounted a basket on the front rack and took a spin with my Yorkie Max.For anybody looking for a good around town bike. I would recommend this one.

I still haven't figured out how to mount the front carrier or the headlamp they provided. The headlamp needs a brace to attach it to the handlebar. The front carrier defies understanding. The instruction manual provided didn't address this model.